Democrats take Colorado House, retain Senate

ado's Legislature firmly under their control, Democrats are poised to dictate the state's economic agenda and to pass civil unions after two years of divided government.

Democrats defeated Republicans in several key state races Tuesday to retake the House and retain the Senate, victories that set up potential firsts in Colorado history: Openly gay lawmakers leading each legislative chamber.

It would be an emphatic turn for a state that banned same-sex marriage in 2006 and was once dubbed a "hate state" for a 1992 voter-approved constitutional amendment barring cities from passing anti-discrimination laws to protect gay people.

Democrats appeared likely to have at least a 35-30 majority in the House and at least a 19-16 advantage in the Senate, a chamber they've controlled since 2004.

The Democrats' gains were bolstered by new legislative maps drawn by their party last year that forced Republicans to defend more seats.

House Republicans, who had a 33-32 advantage since 2010, defeated the legislation in May with a filibuster just before session ended and again during special session in a GOP-led committee.

Democratic state Rep. Mark Ferrandino, a gay lawmaker, said his party would rule differently than House Republicans.

"We're not going to take it as a mandate to just run it like a dictatorship like we saw at the end of the last session," Ferrandino promised.

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The parties in both chambers planned leadership elections today, and Ferrandino could be elected House speaker. Sen. Pat Steadman, a gay lawmaker who co-sponsored civil unions, has been mentioned as a possible candidate for Senate president. However, Senate Democratic Leader John Morse also has long been considered for that title.

Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper, who supports civil unions and had called the special session, said the way the legislation was defeated "certainly had an influence" on voters.

"When I was going around the state over the last few months, I did hear it mentioned in some of the more unlikely places -- the Eastern Plains, small mountain towns," he said.

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